Sanguine Times
by Oblitus-Umbrae
Summary: They dreamed of a time of peace, where all the violence and hatred were gone in the face of this bloodied world. Within each others arms they enjoyed the smaller moments of peace given to them by the heavens. Despite their acts deep down inside the two wished for nothing more but to live in a peaceful world. In the end however, peace was never an option for humanity. War rages on


**Sanguine Times **

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing if I owned Naruto a lot of important people would have already died during the battle against the Juubi, Obito, and Madara.

**AN:** I was looking over some of my old scripts and found this one… it had like 13k already written so I decided to finish it up and post it. This is actually my first legit non xover Naruto story lol just a minor project of mine (actually planned to be a background story for one of my other fics), I do hope people like it. There will be some flashbacks over the course of this story so be warned. Oh and plese read the end notes which have explanations to various subjects that occur during the first part of this story.

**Tags: AU, Violence, Gore, War, Character Deaths (ANYONE CAN DIE), Strong Naruto (Justified its war time if he wasn't strong he'd be dead simple as that), Smartish Naruto, Slight OOC for some characters. **

**Pairings: Naruto x ?**

**Unbeta'd**

**-Sanguine Times-**

**Chapter 1: Akai Kishin**

The time was night, nearing the early hours of morning.

The sky was darkened with black clouds which hid the moon.

A beautiful crimson lit red moon.

At this specific time a large body of Mist covered the land of the falls.

This mist in itself was not normal, unnatural beyond all doubt due to its colour.

The mist carried a tint of murderous red.

Yes, the mist was red like blood.

Inside the bloodstained mist a lone shadow moved.

His presence concealed.

His speed unbelievable.

His movement's silent.

His weapon drawn.

His prey in sight, a group of shadows foolish or unlucky enough to be stuck within his domain.

Not even the sounds of his huge weapon slicing through was heard as two shadows caught within the mist were easily killed.

Large gashes were seen over their Larynx.

The shouts of panic became apparent with the group but their screams were muffled out by the unnatural presence of the mist which concealed all.

Among the group of Shinobi one pulled out a tanto and charged into the mist a moment later he was tossed back to the group dead with a large slash over his spine.

The remaining Shinobi went into full-time panic mode, the level-headed ones quickly formed a square on each other's back, facing the four cardinal directions to prevent getting flanked by the murderous demon in the mist.

While those who were panicking began flinging justu after jutsu in the mist, be it earth, water, fire, wind, or lightning, they desperately fired off in hopes to kill the hunter who deemed them as prey.

Lungs, those were what a huge metallic sword quickly pierced before it vanished in the mist as the shinobi who used fire dropped on the ground obviously dead.

Liver, could be seen as the ones who used earth and water were cleanly cleaved in half by the giant blade.

The one who used lightning and wind soon followed the fate of his allies as the large cleaver like blade slashed him across his kidney.

The quartet who were at right of mind were now beyond scared. Despite being trained to kill and being the best their village could offer they did not even have it in them to go against one man. The fear within them intensified as the one facing north fell towards the ground, what looked like a crimson crystalline knife was imbedded through his heart.

Eyes wide, and pupil dilated, the group decided it was best if at least one of them were to survive this ordeal. Channeling chakra to their feet the group quickly dispersed into three different directions in hopes of running from their hunter.

Big mistake.

One of the three immediately fell, a large gash appearing over his jugular which squirted out blood, seconds later and he was dead.

The second fell soon after a precise cut marred on her subclavian artery, she held on to her neck as she fell down on the ground, life fading away, her fate was sealed and she was dead.

The last man however ran as fast as he could, and for a moment saw the end of the mist, a lighter path filled with the light of the moon. The man gritted his teeth as he ran towards salvation.

Six steps, five steps, four steps, were left.

Three steps, two steps, away from the mist he detest.

One step, his hand hands were only inches away from salvation.

The man managed to walk out of the mist his body taking a few steps before dropping harshly on the ground. His head rolling beside his body completely detached from his now lifeless corpse of a body which spurted out the crimson ichor further staining the battle field with more blood and then for there was none.

The shadow has claimed his prey.

Unscathed the shadow stood silently amidst the crimson coloured mist, ten bodies scattered around him. A moment later the clouds moved in a way that allowed the red moon to shine down and bask the man in its eerie glow.

A man clad in a black cloak, his face hidden by an ominous red mask of an angry god that bore fear to those who saw it. In his left hand he held a large bloodied cleaver like blade, the beheading knife of legends that drew power from the blood of its victims, a blade fitting for the butcher in the mist.

Not even a second after being blessed by the moon the shadow vanished within the red mist as more lambs came to their slaughter, more screams of pain, anguish, horror and death echoed around the land of Taki as the shadow continued upon its war path.

However one has to ask, what was the reason for all of this violence that this man has decided to inflict among these shinobi of Taki?

Well the answer was plain and simple.

The man was hired to do it. In other times he would be called a murderer, but in times like these he was hailed as a hero.

He was hired to take the lives of many during this time of great conflict.

Yes, it was the time of war.

The Fourth Great Shinobi War.

A great war that tore the Elemental Nations apart for the last ten years.

Hundreds of thousands have already died in the conflict that reduced lands to rubble, burned forests to ash, filled rivers with blood. Man, Women, and Children be they civilian, shinobi, samurai, or even bandits, all were affected by the great hell fire that is war.

The root of this war was minor skirmishes between nations often occurred and eventually erupted into a full-blown war after the attempted invasion of Konohagakure by the forces of Otogakure and Sunagakure a good nine or ten years back. Of course the allied forces of the foreign shinobi led by The Traitorous Sannin Orochimaru failed in their invasion because of the Sandaime Hokage who vigilantly fought to the end to protect his nation. However, despite the failure of the snake's attack he did succeeded in crippling Konohagakure's power through the use of several of the Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi Gaara's all-powerful Bijuudama that killed a good twenty-four percent of Konoha's populace before it was finally defeated and forced to retreat by none other than the Toad Sage Jiraiya.

This moment of weakness during the aftermath of the invasion did not go unnoticed by the other nations. For in fact it was in this one moment that both Iwagakure and Kumogakure decided to once and for all end the nation which humiliated both of their nations in the wars of old. Together this two nations which were later joined by Otogakure, Kusagakure, and other smaller villages became known as the **Tenchi Alliance (Heaven and Earth Alliance).** Their goal was to wipe the constant thorn to their sides during the past wars, to destroy Konohagakure and wipe it off the face of the world much like its former ally from a bygone era Uzushiogakure.

Although much to the Tenchi Alliance's surprise Konohagakure managed to fight back. Despite the heavy damages it has received during the invasion the village led by the newly promoted Hokage Jiraiya led a counter attack that managed to hold off the foreign invaders. Joining Konohagakure's side in this war was none other than Suna led by Baki the Great Wind who apologized for their actions and maintained an alliance with Konoha by taking the struggling village's side upon the oncoming war. Along with Sungakure both Takigakure led by Shibuki of the Hero Water and Amegakure led by Yahiko joined Konoha's side and established the **Sodai Ha Teikei (Grand Leaf Alliance)**. Their goal was to push back the invading forces of the Tenchi Alliance to defend their lands, hoping to bring about the time of peace once more.

The fifth great shinobi village however has no part in this war as of yet. Kiri still recovering from the great civil war that tore the land established neutrality by not assisting either sides in the current conflict. Though only time will tell if the village hidden in mist will remain forever silent or in fact become the factor that will tilt the scales of the war.

Be it night or day, conflict, battles, assassinations, poisonings, death, genocides occurred rampant. The chain of hatred, pain, suffering, and war continues to grow as the days pass. However, it was during these obvious times of conflict and calamity that a certain group of individuals arise ready to join and fight for the side who was willing enough to pay them the highest amount of money.

They were called Mercenaries and this is man was one of the many mercenaries that roamed the lands during this bloody times.

He was a villain to some and yet a hero to many.

This is his story.

**-Sanguine Times-**

**Play Naruto Shippuden Movie OST 14 -Violent Fluctuation**

It was still night-time when two men ran on the surface of a great lake that stood beneath an ever flowing waterfall just outside of Takigakure. The two exchanged blows upon blows, jutsu after jutsu, filled with clear intent of hurting or otherwise killing their opponent. Floating on the lake surrounding the two were the bodies of dozens of shinobi of Takigakure. Most of which were either unconscious or dead from their wounds.

"**Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Release: Water Trumpet)**" cried a slightly injured and haggard looking man by the name of Shibuki. He was wearing a light blue flak jacket with metal shoulder guards, and grey pants along with a forehead protector with the symbol of a waterfall, with his ink black eyes he glared as his enemy while his long, wet dark brown hair waved around as he launched a large wave of water from his mouth through his hand.

His opponent a man clad in black cloak with its hood up, hiding most of his features aside from red mask that hid the man's face simply clapped his hand in response. **"Suiton: Suishoha (Water Release: Water Colliding Wave)" **whispered the man as a spiralling vortex of water formed around the man absorbing the water from Shibuki's attack adding the jutsu's power to its own before it exploded into a great wave that shot itself towards the Leader of Taki.

Shibuki channeled as much chakra to his feet as possible as he turned away from the wave before kicking off the ground and running away from the wave while going through some hand seals. He then turned around a fired off a large defensive wall of water that crashed against his opponent's attack. "**Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Encampment Wall)**" However he was soon forced to cancel the jutsu and jump back as his attacker appeared surfing a top the large wave and threw several kunais and shuriken towards him.

Shibuki took out a single kunai and began deflecting an incoming barrage of shuriken and kunai that his opponent threw at him while making sure to keep his distance away from the man to gauge the full capabilities of his opponent. Though much to his frustration the man masked in red refused to show anything else than a water jutsu now and then. "Why are you attacking Takigakure?"

The man didn't answer, instead he pulled out several kunais with explosion tags and threw them at Shibuki with each projectile soared through the air while exploding in random intervals. When the smoke created by the explosions cleared a broken wooden log was seen in place of Shibuki.

"Kawarimi huh?" said the man in clad in black as he took out a kunai and spun around blocking a strike aimed for the back of his head courtesy of Shibuki. "Attacking from behind is too predictable."

Shibuki clicked his tongue as he found himself in a furious yet skillful exchange of slashes and stabs against his opponent. Steel met steel causing sparks to fly ever constantly as both refused to relent on their attacks.

Steadying his foot on the surface of the lake Shibuki managed to lash out his leg and hit his opponent right at his abdomen pushing the man away as both of them threw their respective kunais which deflected one another.

"Use it." The man said as he took out several shuriken and kunais and resumed his barrage of metallic death while encircling the leader of Taki. Shibuki raised an eye brow as he dodged the assault by jumping to the side before throwing his own attack which consisted of several kunais wrapped with explosion tags towards his opponent. 'Use what?' he though as much to his surprise his kunais landed on its target intended target, pelting the man clad in black with a rain of sharp kunais that exploded covering the man in a cloud of mist.

Shibuki's eyes widened in surprise as the mist vanished almost instantaneously revealing that his attacked was barely faced and not even damaged by his high-grade explosive tags.

"What the h-" before he could even finish his sentence as he was forcibly sent skidding along the surface of the lake courtesy of a punch from his attacker. "When did he move?" Shibuki thought as he tasted iron in his mouth while a trail of blood slowly flowed down his busted lip.

The man cloaked in black pulled his fist back before crossing his arms in his chest. "You know you should really use it, if you don't you'll die even faster and this fight would be boring."

"You keep saying use it? What do you mean?" Shibuki asked which elicited a sigh in response from his attacker. "Are you really the leader of Takigakure? I'm telling you to use the Hero Water."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I want to fight you at your strongest I want to fight, the Shibuki who was said to have fought Darui, Atsui, and Samui of Kumo to a standstill during the defense of the borders of Yukigakure." He exclaimed reappearing in front of the leader of Taki catching the man off guard once more as he delivered a left hook to the Shibuki's face which was then connected by a low uppercut to the chest and then finished off by an elbow strike straight to his cheek that sent the man crashing away towards the waterfall. "The man who single-handedly killed a hundred with but one stroke of your blade."

"Is that the reason you and your companion are attacking Takigakure?" Shibuki asked as he reached for his pockets and pulled out a single vial containing the famed water of Taki. He couldn't believe that he was being forced to resort in using their village's treasure this early in the fight but he had no choice since he was clearly out matched. "For something as foolish as fighting someone strong?"

"So that's the Hero Water huh… they say it multiplies the user's chakra tenfold at the cost of their life span…" The man smiled from underneath the mask "And to answer your question Shibuki-san that is part of the reason…" the masked man answered as he watched Shibuki open the vial and drink its contents. "How about this I'll tell you the reason if you defeat me."

"Then so be it, may the beautiful waterfalls of Taki brought forth by the Great Tree bring you to your demise…" Shibuki threw the now empty vial away as a cloak of pure blue intense chakra enveloped his body in a shroud like manner similar to that of a Jinchuuriki. "This is for everyone you killed…" He added as he placed his palm upon the surface of the lake and pulled out a crystalline sword made of water. **"Takigakure-Ryu: Mizukiri no Yaiba (Hidden in a Waterfall Style: Water Slicing Blade)" **announced Shibuki before he suddenly vanished in a burst of speed.

"Fast!" His attacker thought as said mercenary quickly ducked down to avoid a horizontal slash before pushing chakra on the heels of his feet and pushing forward making himself roll on top of the lake to avoid a second slash coming from the now powered up Shibuki. The man clad in black quickly pulled out a kunai to block the crystalline blade but was soon forced to let go of his weapon as Shibuki's sword sliced through the metal as if it was paper.

"Sharp…"He whispered as he kept his eyes focused on the crystalline blade as he narrowly dodged several slashes from Shibuki that tore through his cloak revealing his rather tanned yet still uninjured skin. "He's channeling more Suiton Chakra on the edge of the blade coating it with a thin layer of water making it sharper with each swing." The masked man's eyes narrowed on the blade and saw just what he thought. However before he could even attempt to look further into the technique Shibuki began going through some hand seals with one hand. "**Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet)." **Shouted Shibuki as a large dragon made out water rose from the lake before it soared through the air flying towards the man clad in black.

"**Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique)"** shouted the masked man after furiously going through some hand seals of his own. From the great lake a large amount of water surges high up into the heaves before cascading down towards the dragon of water much like a gigantic waterfall. However to the masked man's surprise, his jutsu was pushed back and eventually overwhelmed by the dragon of water which slammed against his body sending him rolling back on the surface of the lake.

The sound of a war shout was heard as Shibuki appeared standing above the downed form of his opponent. "This is it!" the leader of Takigakure cried out as he stabbed his sword towards the masked man stabbing him right through the small of his back piercing through the other side. "This is for attacking Taki and killing my comrades!" He cried out as he pulled the now bloodied sword away from the unmoving body of masked man which continued to bleed out endlessly and prepared himself to slice the man's head off.

Raising his sword high up to the heavens the Shibuki quickly brought the blade down and sliced the masked man's head off. "It's over… since you didn't answer I'll just ask your partner after I defeat him." Shibuki said as he was about to cancel the power given to him the Hero Water to stop his life force from further fading away only to stop when he heard the sounds of clapping coming from behind him.

He did not need to turn around to know that his masked opponent was standing behind him. "You really are pretty strong…" he heard the mercenary say in a tone mixed with both amusement and admiration.

"When?" Shibuki asked as he turned around to face his opponent as expected the man stood a few feet away from him still uninjured despite all the Taki-nin's attacks.

"When what?" the mercenary asked.

"Since when have I been fighting a **Chi Bunshin (Blood Clone)**?" He said pointing to the lifeless body of the masked mercenary that was now slowly turning into a puddle of red blood.

"Oh you knew it was a clone? Wait, how did you know it was a blood clone?"

"I saw you in the bingo book. Thanks to various countries almost every nation knows you're abilities **Chiton no Akai Kishin (Red Fierce God of the Blood Release).**"

"Oh? Are you and admirer? Do you want an autograph? Just give me your bingo book and I'll sign it for you, as a bonus I'll even sign it with my blood…" He joked to which Shibuki responded by firing off another water dragon towards the masked man prompting him to use **Shunshin (Body Flicker) **to avoid the water dragon. "Tough audience today, though I was also surprised when I saw my updated entry for Kami's sake I was just a B-Rank Mercenary a few months back."

"It's because you pissed off the wrong people."

The Kishin nodded "True, true, Oh and to answer your earlier question I replaced myself with a clone was when I was covered with mist from your exploding kunais."

"I see, Well then** Akai Kishin-san **will you please tell me what a high ranked mercenary like you is doing here in Taki!? Tell me why you attacked and I'll think about letting you live."

"False Bravado, I know you're bluffing because if this is all you have then you have no chance of beating me. As to why I am attacking, I dont' feel like answering but instead let me ask my own question. You know who I am and what I have done despite that will you keep fighting me to the death knowing full well that you are going to die in the end?"

"For the safety of this nation I will fight!" Shibuki shouted with no hesitations, his body remained firmed and ever vigilant as the wisps of blue chakra that ate away his life force flickered even brighter.

"Despite knowing who I am?" The mercenary asked again as if peering and judging the Taki-nin for all his worth.

"Until my last breath!" He answered once more as the light blue aura continued to flicker furiously around him while giving him more power.

"Despite knowing how much stronger I am than you?"

Shibuki didn't bother to reply as he held his crystalline sword with both hands and got into a kenjutsu stance.

"Very well… Shibuki of Taki…" the man extended his left hand to his side as he channeled chakra on his palm. A single kanji with the word sword appeared on his palm before a small poof of smoke came out of nowhere along with the emergence of a massive broadsword shaped like a giant butcher knife.

It was called the **Kubikiribocho (Decapitating Carving Knife)** or the **Danto (Seversword)**, some even refer to it as the **Executioner's Blade** pertaining to the sword's violent and bloody history even among all of seven legendary swords of the mist, and more importantly it was the weapon of choice of the **Akai Kishin.**

The sword was such an intimidating blade that even Shibuki who was by now an experienced participant of the Fourth Shinobi War and has seen various atrocities that man could make slightly shivered in fear when the massive blade was pointed towards him. "Show me the strength you gain from your convictions… the strength you gained from your stupid sacrifice."The **Akai Kishin** said as he kicked off the surface of the lake and charged at the leader of Taki. "And let me show you how it pales in comparison to my own!" The man shouted as he swung his massive blade towards Shibuki who tried to block the Seversword with his own water blade only for it to slightly crack with the sheer brute force of the Red Fierce God's Attack.

Shibuki then found himself gasping for air as his opponent landed a solid kick right in his stomach pushing him back. Ignoring the pain the Taki-nin quickly brought his sword up and to the best of his ability parried and evaded the incoming assault from the **Akai Kishin**.

The mercenary started off with a high arcing downwards swing of his blade prompting Shibuki to roll away from the blade's direction only to be caught off guard when the massive sword stopped mid-swing despite all its momentum. He barely had the time to jump back to avoid a quick yet ferocious horizontal strike from his attacker that tore through his flak jacket leaving a large gash and slightly deep cut over his chest.

Shibuki's face went as a pale as a ghost when he saw the red droplets flowing down from his wound and into the surface of the lake. "Shit" the Taki-nin spat out as he stared at the cut on his chest then back at the Akai Kishin. If what was written in the bingo book rumors were not exaggerated then he was already good as dead.

Though much to his surprise the infamous Akai Kishin did not use one of his famed Chiton Jutsu to kill him there and then but instead took a quick step towards his location and swing his blade once more. Not to take an opportunity for granted the Taki-nin quickly blocked the massive sword with his own blade while he almost instantaneously pulled out a single kunai with an explosive tag from his pockets before throwing the thing right at the masked man's face.

Too bad for him though that the man saw it coming. Placing much strength to his sword the mercenary pushed Shibuki away before turning towards the projectile and slapping it away with the side of his sword.

There was a small moment of silence as the Taki-nin regained his bearings while the swordsman clad in black got into a kenjutsu stance once more the only sound in between them was that of the waterfall and the sizzling of a kunai.

'Despite its huge size, he's swinging it around with one hand like it's a tanto.' He thought as he carefully observed his enemies kenjutsu during their few clashes and noted that despite the use of such a massive blade his opponent had little to no openings. 'He's even better than Darui-san who also uses a similar sized sword. I better step up my game if I want to live through this.' Shibuki inwardly scowled 'But he must be underestimating me since he didn't even use his **Chiton**. Better take advantage of that.'

The sizzling of the previously thrown kunai stopped and for a moment there was pure tranquil peace, before it exploded rather violently acting as signal for the two to resume their death match.

In an attempt to change the pace of the battle Shibuki kicked off the surface of the lake and darted towards the mercenary, with sword in hand the Taki-nin attacked with well-timed thrusts and slashes that mostly succeeded in tearing parts of the masked man's cloak.

By channeling his ten-fold high chakra around his body Shibuki slowly gained momentum. He was putting up an actual fight and pushing his opponent back with speedy thrusts and stabs that the **Akai Kishin** barely parried or dodged.

With a loud battle cry he managed to sneak a blow past the masked man's defense, stabbing the mercenary in the shoulder making the masked man stagger back.

Shibuki looked at the tip of his sword.

It was tinted red with crimson ichor.

He drew blood.

Shibuki looked at the Akai Kishin he was visibly stunned. Shibuki smiled inwardly he was winning as he charged towards the man in reckless abandon continuing his assault with new found vigor. This was a chance to turn the tables, it was a foolish if he didn't take advantage of it. The Taki-nin's hands blurred as he furiously trusted his sword forward, high, mid, low, left, right, it didn't really matter as long as he could defeat the man now. This was the chance this man, defeat this man and force him to reveal the reason for attacking Taki and slaughtered his fellow compatriots.

However, there was one problem that threw away and spat on any confidence he obtained during their clash. The **Akai Kishin** swung his massive sword, nothing fancy just one single swing aimed for the Taki-nin's sword.

The crystalline sword shattered upon contact stopping Shibuki's attack, his relentless assault stopped by a single swing.

Shibuki barely had the time to form another sword as the mercenary swung his sword once more. The newly made sword did not shatter but rather it cracked under the pressure of the mercenary's swing. The Taki-nin was forced to shift gears, taking a defensive stance he barely blocked, parried, and avoided a maelström of deadly attacks which left cuts and gashes across his body.

After a few more exchanges his sword shattered once more forcing the Taki-nin to jumping away and distance himself from his attacker. The situation was bad, he was getting tired and his hands were already numbing due to the intense force that the masked man's blows carried. 'Such brute strength.' The Taki-nin placed his hand upon the lake and created another sword to replace his newly broken one.

Giving the village leader little time to recover the Akai Kishin ran towards Shibuki, while dragging his sword upon the lake's surface, and then with a flick of his wrist the mercenary swung his blade with such force that the droplets of water collected on his sword's edge were shot like arrows towards the Taki-nin. "**Suiton: Yabusame (Water Realese: Arrow Military Shark)"**

Shibuki's body was riddle in arrow holes that pierced through his shoulder forearm, stomach, thighs, chest, and even head, one would think he was dead if he didn't suddenly turn into a puddle of water. "Last second **Kawarimi (Substitution)** with a water clone." The man then brought his massive sword up just in time to block a stab attack aimed for his heart "You're good." The **Akai Kishin** praised as he and Shibuki exchanged blows once more. "But let's take it up notch shall we?" asked the mercenary as his movements and attacks blurred in a ridiculous amount of speed.

Shibuki breathing became erratic as he saw the drastic increase in his opponent's capabilities. He tried his best to keep calm and collected but he knew he was screwed. The Takigakure kenjutsu style he used was derived on the principle of using the flow to your advantage,to flow calmly and gently like the water and seep in through the small cracks within the enemy's not being from Taki he could see from the mercenary's attack that he too followed the same principle. The **Akai Kishin** flowed like the water with his movements, but instead of being a calm flowing current the mercenary's was more akin to that of a strong current that engulfed its opposition. Yes, a strong tide leading to a destructive and violent maelstrom which overwhelmed all unlucky enough to encounter it.

True to his observation the mercenary's fierce attacks were slowly overwhelming him.

'I can barely keep up.' was the panicked thoughts of Shibuki as he found himself backing away from the sheer force of his attacker's strikes. For Kami's sake he has fought in this war since it started around nine years ago. With each day and battle he has grown stronger, faster, smarter, and more powerful than his younger cowardly self could even imagine.

So why was he in such dire straits?

Why was he and his nation the victim of such a relentless assault from this highly dangerous mercenary?

There were so many questions he wanted to ask but his brain was too busy prioritizing his own survival rather than allotting towards his need to satisfy his curiosity.

"Shit!" Shibuki cursed as he was forced to create another **Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone) **and substitute himself with it to avoid getting his head sliced off. 'I have to distance myself and attack from afar with ninjutsu since he out classes me in kenjtsu' Shibuki thought as he made a one-handed Ram Seal his body disappearing in a flicker of water, a second later he was standing beneath the waterfall about half a kilometer away from his attacker who predictably stopped his assault.

The Taki-nin's hands blurred **"Taju Suiryudan no Jutsu (Multiple Water Dragon Bullet Technique)"**

The mercenary in black couldn't help but let out a whistle as he saw not one, not two, but close to thirty water dragon bullets flying towards him. "Damn that thing looks like a Hydra" remarked the swordsman as he channeled chakra to the soles of his feet before flipping backwards to evade the first two water dragons. He then channeled as much chakra in his arms as he rotated midair and used the built up momentum to slash through the two subsequent dragon as if it wasn't a B-Rank Jutsu.

Four down, about twenty six –Shibuki fired off several more dragons, and counting to go.

With one hand the mercenary slashed two more incoming dragons dispelling the jutsu and turning them into a puddle of water. With the other hand the teen pulled out a single Kunai which he then used to slit his wrist much to the surprise of Shibuki.

Red blood continued pouring from the wound creating two puddles of crimson on top of the lake. Most would have already bleed out to death by that point but the Taki-nin could see that the grievous injury did not even face the mercenary.

From the two pools of blood two identical copies of the masked man wielding the same massive blade rose menacingly prompting the Taki-nin to gulp despite being in a more advantageous position. The leader of Taki made a few more hand seals as the number of water dragons flying towards the mercenary increased. "I better finish this now."

"**Chi no Bunshin (Blood Clones)" **exclaimed the mercenary, the wound in his wrist already healed while his hands blurred as he finished off a set of hand seals. From beneath his mask a dense, curved torrent of water was released creating a circular barricade of water around the mercenary and his clones. "**Suiton: Suijinchu (Water Release: Water Encampment Pillar)**" announced the mercenary as his defensive water camp was pelted by several dragon bullets covering said mercenary in a large mist made of exploding splashes of water.

"Did I get him?" asked Shibuki only for his answer to come in the form of the two blood clones rushing out of encampment of water giant cleaver blades in hand. He then watched as the two clones systematically slashed, cut down, and countered several of his dragons with nothing but chakra empowered slashes from their severswords before the two clones were eventually overwhelmed by the remaining dragons of water.

Satisfied with the demise of the clones the Taki-nin turned to the defensive suiton jutsu and found that it was still standing despite the damage it took from several Suiryudan. Cancelling the water dragons the Taki-nin went through a different series of seals as he opened his mouth** "Suiton: Ko Suiatsu Taiho (Water Release: High Water Pressure Cannon)**" the Taki-nin shouted as he released a large concentrated jet of highly pressurized water from his mouth while moving his head from left to right. The Jutsu had not trouble slashing through both the water encampment and the Mercenary who was bisected in half by the destructive jutsu.

Most would have been ecstatic in seeing the sliced up figure of their opponent but Shibuki knew better. Years of fighting in the fourth shinobi war thought him that it was never this easy.

Never ever.

True to his thoughts the bisected mercenary soon turned into a mush of blood as his ears then picked up the silent sound of an object cutting through the air coming from his blind side.

Eyes widening the Taki-nin immediately ducked glad that he did not let his guard down as the beheading knife sailed pass through his head. For a moment he thought he was safe but his instincts honed through several battlefields have told him that it was far from over.

Sword in hand Shibuki stabbed forth his blade in the middle of the circle in the danto. He then pumped large amounts chakra into his arm as he tossed the bloodied blade high up into the still blackened sky before quickly grabbing a kunai with an explosive tag on it and tossing it at the air borne blade.

Before the kunai could even make contact with the blade a single hand shot out of the sword and grabbed the kunai before tossing it away. Not even second later the entire figure of the ever so familiar mercenary dropped out of the massive blade. Holding it by its handle the airborne mercenary used gravity to his side and brought down the large blade towards Shibuki who had enough of a common sense to jump back so that he could avoid the sure-kill attack. However, Shibuki failed to take into account the follow-up attacks of the swordsman who successfully landed several slashes over his body before he successfully used a **Kawarimi **on one of the many dead bodies of his compatriots floating around. "What kind of technique was that?" He couldn't help but ask.

"**Chiton: Chikengakure no Jutsu (Blood Release: Hiding in a Bloody Sword Technique) **one of my sempai has a similar technique so I made my version of it.**" **answered the masked mercenary as he charged towards the Taki-nin slashing his blade horizontally trying to bisect the leader of Taki. Having no room to use Kawarimi Shibuki was forced to use Shunshin instead as he once more to distance himself from the mercenary by now appearing on the opposite side of the lake near the land.

The Masked Chiton user tilted his head to the side. "Why are you putting so much distance between us? If you want to make sure your attack hits me, then you should get close and fire or is it that you're afraid of letting even a part of me out of your field of vision by getting close?. Then again you're at a disadvantage in close quarter combat." He said as he rolled in the ground to avoid a large water dragon that Shibuki once again conjured.

"Let me tell you a lesson that a man I admire taught me." The mercenary channeled chakra to the soles of his feet and started a mad dash towards the Taki-nin "Distance only has meaning in a fight between equals." The man masked in red then disappeared in a swirl of blood while in mid-run before he reappeared in front of Shibuiki. "With you and I, distance holds no meaning at all." He pointed the tip of his massive sword over the shocked shinobi's heart. "See? If I do this, my blade is almost instantly at your heart."

In panic Shibuki immediately jumped back away from his attacker who stabbed his sword forward hitting the place where the brown-haired man's heart was only moments ago.

The man masked snickered "Good reflexes but it's about time we end this neh?" He then began going through several one-handed seals that Shibuki recognized. Not wasting any time the leader of Taki went through the very same hand seals just in time to fire one of his own.

"**Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu**" Both shouted out as a large dragon made of water rose from the lake in Shibuki's case the masked man's dragon however was formed from the very moisture in the saturated air before it was send crashing against Shibuki's dragon which created a large watery explosion which covered the area in mist.

The masked man looked around, his prey having disappeared for a moment. **"**Did he use **Shunshin**?**" **He asked, his question was soon answered when a rather drenched Shibuki rose from the lake just a few feet away from him. Shibuki jumped behind the Mercenary and slashed down only to meet the large cleaver like blade once more which met his attack head on. Shibuki placed all his force into pushing down attempting to overpower his foe. Small shockwaves formed beneath the cloaked man's feet as he was slowly pushed down towards the water.

"Die!" shouted Shibuki who desperately wanted to finish the battle already. His body was already exhausted, feeling the after effects of using the Hero Water prolonging the battle any further would only lead to his own defeat and most likely his death.

However his chances of winning was slowly decreasing. His opponent's next words just made victory even harder to achieve. **"Fuin (Seal)"** whispered the mercenary. Shibuki didn't know why but he could have sworn that the man behind the mask was smiling as he muttered those words. The large Danto then vanished in a puff of smoke as it was sealed once more within the mercenary's left hand.

It then happened in a flash.

With all his force and momentum in his downward slash his crystalline sword completely missed the masked man who quickly sidestepped towards Shibuki's left side. Using the opening to his advantage the masked mercenary then jumped getting closer to Shibuki. The man's hands then blurred as he punched the Taki-nin several times in his body a loud crack accompanying each blow before he lashed out his leg kicking Shibuki on his left shoulder.

A loud cracking sound echoed in the area as Shibuki skidded along the surface of the small lake stopping only near the center of the lake. He was badly injured, various cuts and bruises scattered all over his body along with left arm hanging limp to his side- a hundred percent sure it was broken.

The current leader of Taki panted heavily trying to ignore the pain as much as he can as he desperately tried to steady his hold over a crystalline sword of water with his right hand. The worst part was that he was already using his nation's treasure -the Hero Water, which was already increasing his chakra output tenfold in exchange for sacrificing his very life force, which had little to no effect in the conflict. Even with the boost he could already feel his chakra reserves dwindling into oblivion.

He needed to do something fast. "Why would you do this? What has my village ever done to you!? Is this because we are allied to Konoha?! Please tell me!" He asked trying to stall as much as possible so he can formulate a good plan.

The Kishin shook his head, his sword reappearing within his left hand. "I told you earlier that if you defeat me I'll tell you the reason why I am here at Taki but since you managed to put up a good fight then let me tell you why I attacked. The reason is… well nothing personal I was just sent to attack because of your alliance with Konoha."

"Then you're from the **Tenchi (Heaven and Earth) Alliance**?"

"No, I'm just a mercenary who was hired to attack Taki among other things, but do note that I wouldn't have accepted this mission if it wasn't for your connection with a certain individual, or rather your actions or inactions that resulted to said person's fate now tell me oh great leader of Taki, where is the Nanabi Jinchuuriki Fu?"

It felt as if a very rusty kunai struck him in the heart when Shibuki heard the familiar name. "I-…"

The Akai Kishin cut him off "You don't need to tell me, I already know the answer. I know what happened to her. I-" the mercenary took a deep breath "was the one who found her. I was the one who buried her." The mercenary glared at Shibuki from underneath his mask "You handed her to him in exchange for his backing you in this war." Said the mercenary wearing a red mask, his tone neutral and devoid of any emotions he showed earlier. "He gave your nation hundreds of jutsus, weapons, soldiers, information, and even some bloodlines, all for the life of your rebellious Jinchuuriki… Isn't that right Shibuki-san?" He held back a smile as he watched the horrified look on the Taki-nin's face. "She was willing to give her life for this nation to protect it, you took advantage of that and now she's dead,she died just not the way she wanted." The masked man pointed the **Danto **at the rather pale Taki-nin.

"Now… if you do mind would you please stop stalling Shibuki and let's finish this battle."

Shibuki inwardly cursed, he hoped that his opponent would be one of those condescending nut jobs that randomly starts talking and lecturing their opponents which in turn gives their enemy enough time to catch a second wind and eventually make a comeback to kick their asses. It always happened in those books and stories he read in the past so why the hell couldn't they happened now. Hell it even happened during the war when an Iwa-nin who was winning started babbling giving him enough time to recover and kill the man. However, instead of his plans going the way he wanted to he ended up the one receiving a shocking blow to his resolve.

'Fu…' he thought as he readied himself for the battle. 'I guess this is it. Do or die. I hope this works.' The Taki-nin took a deep breath as he got into a kenjutsu stance that he has not used during the fight. The Taki-nin was holding his blade up high above his head with one hand, its tip pointed towards the mercenaryas it glowed an immense hue of blue showing the insane amount of chakra channeled within it.

The mercenary held his sword with one hand with the blade of the massive sword facing the surface of the lake much like he did earlier. "Oh, Interesting." The man slightly crouched, buckling his knees to prepare himself from charging towards the Hero Water user. "But it looks like your attack needs time to charge. Do you really think I'd give you the time to do that?" He kicked of the surface of the lake while dragging his massive sword along creating a massive gash upon the lake.

The mercenary was about to make a full charge at the Taki-nin only for him to suddenly come into a full halt when two hands shot out beneath the lake. "Kage Bunshin?" Akai Kishin asked in shock as he recognized the hands belonging to Shibuki. The mercenary brought his sword up in an attempt to slash down and dispel the clone only for him to stop as he was suddenly encased in a large spherical dome of water "**Suiro no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique)?" **The mercenary thought as he could feel his movements become extremely sluggish within his prison.

He then turned his attention towards the real Shibuki, eyes widening behind his mask the Chiton user couldn't help but whistle once more. "Damn" He whispered as he saw the bluish wisps of chakra around Shibuki flaring up to the levels near of those tailed beasts.

It was only now that the mercenary finally realized the reason Shibuki was the leader of Taki. It was with this one attack that he managed to kill no less than a hundred enemies in one blow. This was the man's ultimate attack.

Putting his all in this one attack the Taki-nin forcefully moved his broken arm ignoring the sharp pain as he clutched his blade with both hands. **"Takigakure-Ryu Ougi (Hidden Waterfall Style Ultimate Technique)" **He whispered, breath already haggard and laboured as he channeled all of his remaining chakra into his blade covering it in a large dazzling bright hue of bluish pure chakra that reached the very heavens themselves. Those adept with sensing chakra would have sensed such a pure concentration of chakra from miles and miles away.

This was his last attack.

Not letting himself get distracted the Masked Chiton user grabbed his massive blade. Forcefully moving through within his prison the mercenary channeled his chakra within his arm as well as using his Chiton to increase his body's physical capabilities as he stabbed the large blade down on the clone who was imprisoning him dispelling it in one blow but he was already too late.

Head turning towards the Taki-nin the mercenary got a glimpse of the man bringing down his chakra covered crystalline blade. **"Tate no Moko (Vertical Onslaught)"**

What happened next could only be described as pure and utter destruction. A ridiculously large downward burst of bluish chakra was expelled from the blade devastating and tearing up the landscape with a single blow. It was pure and utter destruction in the form of Chakra. The very destructive nature of this attack could be comparable to that of a **Bijudama** **(Tailed Beast Ball)** as it covered the whole lake within a dazzling blue light.

The light continued shining brightly for a few seconds engulfing all in its path in a light of pure destruction before eventually receding. Revealing nothing to be left in its wake but a large gash upon the surface of the lake extending towards a good portion of the nearby shore. Not a single tree, fish, or any sort of life form could be seen within the huge gash.

All were destroyed.

Panting heavily the Taki-nin felt the effects of the Hero Water finally fading away forcing him to drop on the surface of the lake with one knee. "Damn… I needed him alive so I could ask questions…"

"You better be careful of what you wish for." Shibuki's eyes widened. He tried to move but his body failed to react as the mercenary appeared behind him and slashed him horizontally through his spine.

"Gyaaahhh!" Shibuki shouted in pain as his body dropped in the surface of the lake tainting it red with his own blood that seeped through the large gash in his back. Amidst all the pain he felt the Taki-nin opened his eyes and looked at his would be killer, the man's mask was cracked all over the place most noticeable was the one that revealed a crimson coloured eye to the world. The man's entire cloak was gone giving Shibuki a view of the man's scarred, singed, burnt, and badly injured dark coloured body. He could also see several specks of blood flowing down the man's entire frame.

"How… did you survive…?"

"Shunshin… after tanking that damned attack. You actually destroyed my **Chi no Manto (Cloak of Blood)**, forced me to use **Shiko Chi Kamon (Supreme Blood Barrier) **to harden my skin to a point of actually tearing my skin. Hell you also forced me to tap into my other chakra to survive that attack. Talk about a land scape reducing fart. Damn who knew you were packing a fucking awesome S-Rank Ninjutsu dattebayo!" The mercenary paused for the moment and palmed his face. 'Damn I thought I dropped that habit already' pushing his thoughts aside the wounded man looked at the fallen Taki-nin. "You were really strong. I haven't seen my life flash before my very eyes like that since the battle with Yagura ages ago.**" **Said the mercenary as he suddenly coughed harshly making a small amount of blood seep through his mask.

"You… wear… a cloak… made of blood…?" Shibuki asked still a bit disoriented.

"No, It just a normal cloak that gets bloody with all the blood of all the people I kill… I just manipulate the blood to reinforce my cloak… It's really handy definitely sturdier, strong enough to protect me from explosions and C or B Rank Jutsus but it can be a pain in the ass from time to time if I'm fighting a Raiton user." He shook his head and got back on topic. "Really without it and my other jutsu you would have killed me with that attack."

"Heh… You didn't even use **Chiton** that much… you could have killed me when you drew first blood if you wanted to…" The leader of Taki chuckled dryly since his planned failed he knew he was as good as dead since he couldn't even feel his body anymore. "I guess… This is it huh?"

The Akai Kishin nodded as he looked down on Shibuki who had a solemn expression on his face. "Did you really give Fu to him?"

"No… it was… council… behind my back… it… was too late… when I found out…"

"Are you sorry for it?"

"Yes… she… was… a friend… biggest... mistake... of my... life... please kill… me…" said Shibuki, he was in pain but there was still some steel in his voice that showed his bravery and resolve which overshadowed the sounds of sadness in his tone.

"Are you not afraid of dying?"

"Why… should I…. People die…. everyday… War has made killing…. second nature to us… I've seen my friends… family…. Allies… enemies… people… who I don't know… people… who I barely know… die…Hehehe… I can't even cry about it anymore…"

"You won't cry for your own death?"

"No… I have already… accepted the inevitability of my death long ago… we Shinobi live a life where we could die any day… it's just that war just made it faster for us…"

The man formerly clad is black smiled sadly behind his red mask. "It was a good fight but this is the end…" He said as he raised the Kubikiribucho high in the air. "Any last words?"

Shibuki coughed out blood his life flashing before his very eyes. He could see it all, from the time he was a little kid, to the great battles he fought in the war, but amidst all this memories the face of a certain mint haired girl with orange eyes stood out. "I'm sorry… Fu..." he whispered as he closed his eyes and accepted his fate.

The Kishin swung his sword down and sliced off the Taki-nin's head from his body, thus putting an end to the life of Shibuki.

"Shibuki, The Son of Taki despite knowing full well that I was stronger you held your ground and did your best to defend your village. For that you have earned a small amount of my respect. I will make sure that what happened to Fu will never happen to anyone ever again. That much I can promise you from one warrior to another." The mercenary flicked the blood off his massive sword as Shibuki's body slowly sunk towards the bottom of the lake never to be see again.

"May your soul rest well in the afterlife." The masked man closed his eyes and let out a small prayer for his fallen foe. "Sayonara" He whispered as he sealed his sword back in his hand before vanishing in a swirl of blood leaving behind the bodies of several lifeless Taki-nin in his wake as the sun slowly rose from the horizon welcoming the coming of a new day with its crimson tinted rays.

**-Sanguine Times-**

The crimson tinted rays of the sun shined ever so dimly as it reached the eyes of a masked person sitting atop a small rock in the midst of a clearing a few kilometers away from the battlefield that occurred on top the great lake.

The clearing itself where the figure stood was not in the best of condition, the ground was torn, several trees were destroyed, giant spikes of icicles were stuck on the ground impaling several bodies, there was blood sprayed all over the place making it look like the mad Jashinist Hidan run amok on the place.

Only moments ago it was also the site of a great battle between the masked individual and several Taki-nin who decided to get in the way of this person's mission.

Mind you the masked-nin was rather reluctant in fighting but when push came to shove, well let's just say the person shoved back rather hard and based on the twelve lifeless body lying about surrounding the clearing it was clearly obvious who won the battle.

The person or rather the woman, was clad in the same dark robes that Akai Kishin wore but instead of the fearsome red mask, this person wore a calming and rather serene blue mask of a noble looking god. The woman was humming a cheerful tune as she carefully watched several flowers planted near the clearing that were waving along with the slightly chilly morning breeze. Not that she was affected by the chill, she had a too high of a tolerance for the cold to be affected by such a trifling breeze.

Such beautiful white lilies that were slightly stained by several droplets of blood.

From beneath her mask the masked woman's eyes followed a singled droplet of blood as it slowly trailed down the beautiful white petals of the flower forming a single crimson droplet which fell on the ground.

"Even the flowers weep for what I have done." The woman said her tone was kind and gentle yet carried unparalleled saddness. Her eyes quickly gazed upon several other lilies who were also crying in the blood that were spilled unto them. "But for the sake of my-" she shook her head. "No for the sake of our dreams more blood must be shed." She extended her hands palm facing the heavens. The wind and moisture on top of her palm grew cold quickly solidifying to form a single kunai made of bluish white ice.

The woman clad in black gripped the newly formed kunai within her hand. With a quick flick of her wrist she then sent the icy projectile soaring through the air until it smashed through the forehead protector of a Taki-nin hiding on top of a tree from a far. A loud thud soon followed as the shinobi's body fell on the ground.

She didn't even need to look at the man to know that her kunai pierced through the shinobi's head killing the man in one blow. "I apologize, for your lives to be a part of the sacrifice needed to pavé the path towards the future." She looked high up in the still slightly darkened sky. "Hopefully a brighter future that awaits us all after this time of darkness."

A slight shifting in the air accompanied by both the heavy smell of iron along with a huge amount of chakra that she could feel miles away alerted her of the presence of the person she was waiting for. "You're late… again." She said as none other than the mercenary Akai Kishin appeared a few feet behind her.

"Hehehe sorry about that I got lost in the road of life."

She didn't need to see his face to know there was a wide grin beneath his mask. "I don't even want to know where you picked up or heard an excuse as lame as that."

Elsewhere, within a great fortress that was once a prison which held the most heinous of criminals a certain konoha jonin sneezed momentarily pausing before resuming his sparring match against one of his old students.

"Yeah it is lame thought I forget where I heard it from." He admitted the mercenary let his seriousness drop after all his battle to the death was already over. With that in mind her opted to return to his regular cheerful self. "Yoh! So Wazzup are you alright Ao-chan?" he looked around and saw the sight of several dead bodies along the area. "Looks like your fine this is so unfair you probably had an easier time than me."

Ao palmed the mask covering her face. "Did you forget that you were the one who volunteered to fight Shibuki Akia-kun?" By volunteer she meant practically begged her to let him be the one to fight the stronger opponent so he can have a good fight as well as avenge the Jinchuuriki Fu.

She then turned around to tease or berate her long-time partner only for her words to die deep within her throat as she saw her fellow mercenary's bad condition. It didn't even take her a second to kick of her seat and come rushing towards him, her hands glowing a bright hue of green were already above what she could see were his worse wounds. "Akai? What happened to you? Are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere?" she asked rapidly panic and worry evident in her tone.

"Mah mah I'm fine… hehehe you know firsthand it's going to take more than this to kill me."

"I felt that attack earlier even from here. It was probably strong as a Bijuudama. Judging from the wounds and burns in your body I assume you took the attack head on. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine Ao just feeling a bit banged up but aside from that I'm fine. Nothing you and my friend here couldn't heal." He tapped his stomach, dismissing his partner's worries as he channeled some chakra within several seals written in his body. A poof of smoke later the teen had another set of black cloak and red mask in hand. "So did you secured this mission's primary objective?" The Akai Kishin asked as he carefully wore his replacement mask and cloak making sure not to get in the way of the healing hands of his partner.

"Hai, it was really easier to steal the gourd which carried most of the Hero Water from this village since you were great at drawing attention to yourself."

"Yep great at causing hell like a boss."

"For someone who mastered the art of silent killing you can still be quite loud when you want to."

"And you love me just the way I am right?"

"Hai hai hai" said the woman wearing the blue mask as she pulled her glowing hands away from her partner's body. "You should be fine with your friend healing you from within. You'll be feeling stiff for a while but I say you'll be in full shape in a couple of hours." She said before bonking the very person she healed in the head.

The Akai Kishin nodded "Good, you know how I hate it when I'm injured and can't move around. Really a pain in the ass bleh" he said eliciting a chuckle from his fellow mercenary. "At least you are not as annoyingly hyperactive as you were before."

"Yeah I'm glad I'm not that much hyper- Hey wait did you call me annoying?"

"Nope."

"Muuu Ao-chan's being really mean to me recently."

"It's because you deserve it your becoming more reckless recently. You even let yourself get hit by an attack that could have killed you! I'm telling on you next time we meet Leader-sama, Akai-kun since I know he'll kick your butt for doing something as stupid as that." She shook her head ignoring the cute noises coming from her partner who she knew was already pouting underneath his mask "How about you how were things on your end?" she asked trying to change the topic of the current conversation.

"Well the secondary and tertiary objectives were met but-" Gone was the slightly cheerful tone as it was replaced by a rather sad and distraught one "I still feel bad that we lost Fu in the end, if only I convinced her to come with us instead of staying here in Taki."

"It's not your fault."

"But-"

"No, if there was someone to blame then it was me for not being able to help you convince her."

"It wasn't your fault Ao!"

"No I'm just as much as fault in it as you were so if you will blame yourself for what happened then you should blame me as well. After all both of us failed to protect someone precious to both of us."

"I-I'm sorry I guess... It wasn't our fault… she loved Taki too much to betray the village. I just wished it ended differently."

"I know Ak-" she shook her head deciding to break protocol for once by calling her partner by his real name. "No, Naruto-kun, we both know we can't change the past no matter how much we want to. That's one of the reasons we fight remember? We fight not for the past but for the future." She said as she enveloped the mercenary in a warm hug.

"Thank you Ao- no Thank you Haku-chan." He said as he felt her warmth for a good minute or two before they broke apart. "But it doesn't really look good for us, this makes it the four for his side, Fu of Takigakure, Han and Roshi of Iwa, along with the Sanbi this doesn't look good."

"Yes, with this in mind we have Killer Bee of Kumo and Gaara of Suna to worry about. Hopefully we'll managed to sway them towards our cause but from what I heard about the two it would be unlikely."

"If push comes to shove then we may be forced to kill one of them to delay his plans for a few more years hopefully by that time we have gathered enough information to manage a full-scale assault against him."

"Did you tell Leader-sama about that plan?" asked Ao.

"I've already sent a message or rather one of my clones did."

Haku nodded and for a while remain silent as she processed their previous conversation. "Akai-kun… you said something about a tertiary objective? I though we only had two objectives?"

"No we had a third one, aside from stealing the hero water, and assassinating Shibuki boss joked about this last objective but I intend to do it." the cloaked man's left hand rose towards the heavens.

"To spite him?"

"Yep." The chiton-user smiled beneath his mask as he suddenly snapped his fingers.

The loud sound reverberated over the area until it was muffled and drowned over by the sounds of hundreds if not thousands of explosions which covered about entirety of Takigakure. From the distance the two watched as the Great Tree in the Middle of the Village was in flames, engulfing other trees beside it as it slowly fell towards the village smashing it underneath burning piles of wood.

He grinned underneath his mask "Hahaha! Look whose laughing now boss? Don't have the balls to pull this shit off my ass! I can do this shit twice over if needed!"

The mercenary masked in blue sighed. She didn't even need to use her abilities as a sensor to feel numerous chakra signatures all converging towards their direction. "Akai-san. It would be wise for us to retreat now."

Akai kept a tight grip on his large blade standing his ground as a squads of Shinobi bearing the forehead protector of Taki came charging towards him. "No Ao, this is still part of the Tertiary Objective: To Blow up the Great Tree and cripple Takigakure's Military prowess. This is the perfect time to carry out this mission. We must do as our mission entails and cripple this village as much as possible and this is for Fu..." He whispered the last part as his chakra started flaring up as he cut down two of the incoming Taki-nin leaving the last one to his partner who pelted the remaining one with a rain of ice senbon.

"You do know it's just the two of us against a whole hidden village?"

"It doesn't really matter the boss did it by himself a few times in his career. Heck we already did it a few times in the past or did you forget that fiasco with those flying bastards/" He closed his eyes inside his mask and took a deep breath before taking on a more serious peone hand crafted by his masters. "Plus I already took out Shibuki and he was most likely the only one in this whole village aside from Fu who can put up a good fight and earn my respect."

"I see." was all Ao said having a good idea of Akai's tendency to honour the opponents he find worthy in battle. For Kami's sake those were the only time in his life that he acted spine chillingly serious, scary, deadly yet arousing. Ao gulped quickly shifting her thoughts in order to not think about how alluring Akai was at times. Back to business yes back to business. "I don't want to burst your bubble we were lucky those times and this is boss were talking about. You do know he's a High S-Rank Missing-Nin right?"

"Yeah but the two of us are also considered S-Rank."

Ao froze as her partner's words reached her ears, previous thoughts already flushed away as she picked up on what she thought was rather unfortunate news. "What?"

"Didn't you read the updated Bingo Book? It came out a few days ago. Heck even Shibuki read it."

"I had no time to read it because of this mission or need I remind you a certain someone was late arriving at our intended rendezvous point?"

The Akai Kishin just chuckled dryly as he pulled up the sleeves of his shirt revealing an intricate seal placed upon his forearm. The man channeled chakra upon the area, in a puff of smoke a small book appeared from the seal. "Look at the front page of the S-Rank section." he said as he grabbed the book and tossed it to his accomplice nonchalantly as if not caring about the incoming forces that were about to vanquish both his and his companion's life. "We were barely considered B-Ranks but since we've been active this past two months well you know…"

Ao didn't hear a word from Akai. She just stared at the bingo book with wide shocked eyes as her jaw dropped behind her blue mask. "What the-" she said in pure disbelief, eye glued onto the specific pages in that small book.

**Real Name**: Unknown

**Epithet:** Akai Kishin (Red Fierce God)

**Age:** Unknown

**Affiliation:** Aka to Ao Konbi (Red and Blue Combo)

**Rank:** S

**Affinities:** Raiton, Suiton, Chiton

**Abilities:** Kenjutsu (S), Taijutsu (S), Ninjutsu (S), Fuinjutsu (A), Genjutsu (C), Iryojutsu (C), Chakra Sensing (B), Silent Killing (S)

**Bloodline:** Unknown

**Description:** Actual features remained hidden, most notable feature is that Akai Kishin wears a pitch black cloak that smells of blood along with what many have come to call as the Mask of Red Death which strikes illimitable fear in the hearts of many.

**Reported Feats: **

Assassinated Kazahana Doto of Yuki no Kuni

Assassinated Yomi of Oni no Kuni

Assassinated the corrupt Daimyo of Kirigakure.

Defeated the Yondaime Mizukage Yagura with the assistance of Ao Shoten and Momochi Zabuza.

Stole a Kinjutsu from Kirigakure along with one of the seven legendary swords the Kubikiribocho.

Killed Kaguya Kimimaro of Oto, Seimon no Sakon, and defeated Hokumon no Tayuya in combat.

Kidnapped Shoton no Guren and her partner Yukimaru their current status are unknown presumed dead.

Kidnapped the Nibi Jinchuuriki of Kumo Yugito Nii current status is unknown presumed dead.

Killed the Former Shugonin Junishi and Son of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Azuma along with two squads of tokubetsu jonins of Konoha.

**Bounty:**

Kirigakure: 77,000,000 Ryo Alive

Konohagakure: 35,000,000 Ryo Dead or Alive

Kumogakure: 50,000,000 Ryo Alive

Otogakure: 29,900,000 Dead

**Details:** Shows absurd levels of affinity towards water on par or even surpasses that of the Niidaime Hokage of Konoha. From the bits and pieces of information attained it was also found out that this man uses a form of Kinjutsu from Kiri that allows him to manipulate blood, up to what extent however is not known. Aside from using the kinjutsu the Akai Kishin shows extreme Kenjutsu proficiency on the leagues of that of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist or even the famed Killer Bee. If possible take caution when fighting this shinobi but if seen together with Ao Shoten then do not engage.

**Name:** Unknown

**Epithet:** Ao Shoten (Blue Noble God)

**Age:** Unknown

**Affiliation:** Aka to Ao Konbi (Red and Blue Combo)

**Rank:** S

**Affinities:** Fuuton, Suiton, Hyoton

**Abilities:** Kenjutsu (A), Taijutsu (A), Ninjutsu (S), Genjutsu (A), Iryojutsu (A), Chakra Sensing (S), Silent Killing (A)

**Bloodline:** Hyoton

**Description:** Much like Akai Kishin not much is known about the person's actual appearance aside from the matching black robe and chillingly blue mask Ao Shoten is often spotted wearing.

**Reported Feats: **

Defeated the Yondaime Mizukage Yagura with the assistance of Ao Shoten and Momochi Zabuza.

Assisted Akai Kishin with the theft of Kiri's Kinjutsu and the Kubikiribocho.

Assassinated the corrupt daimyo of Kirigakure's associates along with his royal guards.

Killed Arashi of the Fuma Clan.

Killed the so called Elites of Oni no Kuni.

Killed the Jonin of Yukigakure Roga Nadare

Killed Nanmon no Jirobo along with Tomon no Kidomaru.

Assisted with the kidnapping of Shoton no Guren and her partner Yukimaru

Defeated Darui and C of Kumogakure in combat delaying their rescue from the kidnapping of Yugito Ni.

Killed the Inuzuka Clan Matriarch Tsume Inuzuka along with several Chuunin and Jonin of Konohagakure.

**Bounty:**

Kirigakure: 57,000,000 Ryo Alive

Kumogakure: 25,000,000 Ryo Dead

Konohagakure: 44,000,000 Ryo Dead or Alive

Otogakure: 33,000,000 Ryo Alive

**Details:** An extremely fast and versatile mercenary. The Ao Shoten's fighting style is primarily ninjutsu centralized around Suiton, Fuuton, and Hyoton. Based on several testimonies this mercenary also prefers to use genjutsu specifically the **Kokuangyo no Jutsu (Bringer of Darkness Technique)**. In terms of Taijutsu and Kenjutsu although a bit lacking in terms of power and speed than Akai Kishin the Ao Shoten's skills is of high-class. Engage with extreme caution, but if with the Akai Kishin then by all means do not engage.

The Ao Shoten sighed once more "Leader-sama isn't going to like this. You know he was hoping that the two of us would be under the radar for the sake of keeping our group's existence to the world into a bare minimum."

"Mah mah… this was bound to happen one of these days one can't really go against progress, we've been training every day, fighting for our lives in this war, the time for us to cross over the threshold and enter the S-Rank like the others was coming soon. Hell we've been S-Rank a long time we just did a good job covering it. Though I'm surprised about some of these feats. I know some of them are true but at least half of those are in self-defense and a few of them were only a cover up to what really happened."

"I am aware of that, I was with you most of those times, but you do know with this our entire organization will be made up of S-Rank Shinobi, Mercenaries, and Missing-nin right?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way dattebayo."

Haku shook her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. "That's just like you."

"Just the way you like me right?"

The Ao Shoten shook her head and did not honour him with a response. She didn't need to, he already knew the answer. "Do you think boss would be mad if we leveled his birth land?" Ao asked changing the topic of the conversation as she tilted her head to the side while extending her senses and counting the exact number of presences approaching the area. There was at least thirty groups of three with chakra levels ranging from a chuunin to jonin.

"Nah he hates this place I do know that as long as it doesn't affect him financially then he would pay little to no attention towards it.'"

"So if this somewhat affected his business?" she asked as she signalled her partner and discreetly yold him the exact number of opponents converging in their location.

Naruto nodded "Then, yes he won't like it at all. Hehehe if that happens then this is my bad Ao-chan." the masked man said as he waved his bloody sword, flicking off some blood that it retained before making a one-handed Ram seal with his free hand. "Ao-chan what day is it today?"

"It's Tuesday."

The Akai Kishin just smile underneath his mask, for some reason he felt something ironic about it being Tuesday that day. "Time to cripple a country again **Chigirigakure no Jutsu**" **(Hiding in Blood Mist Technique)** The S-Rank mercenary announced as the blood scattered around the area began reacting rising towards the air slowly expanding, before long the entire area was covered with a mist of crimson red blood.

The perfect stage for the blood soaked crimson god.

"Let's clean up shall we?"

Ao just sighed as two crystalline blue swords of pure ice formed around her hands. "Hai.. hai…" she said rather reluctantly before the two of them slowly vanished within the crimson red mist just in time for the arrival of the first of many groups of Taki-nin.

A few hours later the two slightly injured and exhausted mercenaries left what remained of the burning and heavily damaged Takigakure.

That day would be known as the** Destruction of Takigakure** and would also forever be remembered as a one-sided slaughter as majority of their shinobi forces were taken down by two shinobis. The minor shinobi village will never get back on its feet after is crippling loses, making Takigakure the first among the many major casualties in this war-torn land.

**-Sanguine Times-**

A few hours later in a perilous mountain path near a rather small town located about hundred miles away from the still burning Taki the man known as the Akai Kishin walked silently as the sun shined brightly up in the pure blue sky. By now he wasn't wearing his black hood or red mask since he did not want to stand out and attract unneeded was wearing ordinary civilian like clothing -black face mask covering the bottom half of his face aside, consisting of black cargo pants, a black shirt topped by a sanguine coloured jacket that bristled ever so gently with each of his steps. He also had blond hair with streaks of crimson along with mismatched eyes his left shining a magnificent blue while his right carried the colour of blood as a result of over using his kinjutsu.

His name is Uzumaki Naruto, age twenty-two, S-Rank Mercenary, former citizen of Konoha. As he walked silently beside his partner the fierce crimson god know for slaying of lives of many was in a rather melancholic mood. He did not know why but he felt melancholic, perhaps it was the weather which brought along a slight chill in the air in this fine day of summer or it might have been because he just killed a high ranking shinobi, demolished a village, and slaughtered an army of shinobi before leaving said village in flames.

But that was not it…

The mercenary felt a form of tugging in the back of his mind telling him to remember something, an event of great importance which gave him not only the deep melancholic feeling but also unbound sadness. It took a few more minutes of walking in silence and a deep amount of thought until he remembered the date and the importance of this specific day for him.

It was silly of him to forget it, this was the day he life changed forever.

Ten years ago on this very day when he was no older than twelve years old one Uzumaki Naruto left his village of Konohagakure. Various memories resurfaced within the deep regions of his mind. Now he could actually still remember it like it was yesterday, the entire events of that one day where he decided that he had enough of his village.

All it really took for him to leave was one day which made him snap. Just a single day that tore away all his innocence and idealism while opening his eyes to the futility of staying in his old home.

It started out a normal day like many others, he woke up early in the morning with a slightly better positive outlook in life. He was excited, exhilarated, ecstatic, barely containing these emotions as for him that day marked the day he surpasses the threshold of being ordinary a student and finally entering the ranks of the shinobi and becoming a badass on his way to becoming the greatest Hokage of all time.

The only thing that stood on his path was a test.

A test that was going to be given to him by his rather truant Jonin instructor Hakate Kakashi, but before that could even leave his apartment that day Naruto for some reason couldn't find his forehead protector. He spent almost an hour before he found the metallic plate wearing it and leaving his apartment in a rush in fear of arriving on his test late.

By then he should have known it was going to be a crappy day.

He performed miserably on the test and ended up tied on a log.

He could still hear those words of his "Sensei" Kakashi echo within the recess of his mind during the test. "Sakura… kill Naruto or Sasuke dies…" He didn't really blame Kakashi since the man's one visible eye widen in both horror and shock showing that he was not expecting Sakura to react that way.

Hell even the usually indifferent Sasuke's mouth was gaping.

Ah, Sakura that name made his heart ache every time he remembers that day.

How could he forget?

She stabbed him in the chest, directly through his heart without hesitation, as he was tied tightly around that wooden post unable to mover or fight back just for the sake of rescuing her Sasuke-kun from death.

The one who he thought he loved, the girl he had a crush on stabbed him in the heart without even batting an eyelash. For fucks sake he should have known that his day was only going to get worse from that point on.

He woke up in a hospital a few hours later after the unforeseen attack of his crush, at first he tried to act cheerful as if it didn't happen, heck he even ate the hospital food one of the nurses gave him to try to cheer himself up.

Good old hospital food…

Too bad it was poisoned, he spent the next half hour after that vomiting out blood desperately trying to call out for help.

No one came.

When he regained consciousness it was still the same day, he was stuck in his bed, the sheets and linen has been replaced to hide the crimson stain of the demon's blood, if not for the heavy taste of iron in his mouth or the small pieces of the sanguine coloured essence caked by his mouth then he would have dismissed the experience as a weird dream.

Yet he still tried to be optimistic.

Such a fool he was back then.

It was already late in the afternoon when his Jiji the Third Hokage came and visited him in his room. He could still remember the grim, sad, and apologetic look on the older man's face as he delivered the bad news.

The council has already voted that he be removed from the shinobi program since he already failed passing his genin exams three times in the past. Add to the fact that his actual reason for becoming a genin in the first place was all due to that mishap with Mizuki, by no means did he actually past the standard test. The council was at first lenient with his passing and decided to give him the opportunity to become a shinobi of Konoha but that soon went awry as he failed his gennin exam from his Jonin-sensei showing that he lacked the qualities to become an actual shinobi and therefore must be cut off from the program for various reasons.

He could still remember his Jiji's words that day. "I'm sorry Naruto but this is for the best. If only the council didn't gain more power and influence after the Yondaime's death or if only you passed your test then things would have ended differently but you can't be a Shinobi anymore. I'm really sorry Naruto you can't become Hokage. You will have to live as a civilian, please just think of a different dream." His Hitai-ate with the insignia of the leaf was then taken away before he could even protest. Not that he could protest since he could still remember how shocked he was upon hearing that news.

He went from shocked, to sad, to angry as he left the hospital.

Knowing that his Jiji could no longer help him, he tried to go to the Academy so that he can talk to his old teacher and big brother figure Iruka who was rather busy that day preparing for a mission. He tried to ask Iruka if there was anything he could help to do but the man said no, there was nothing for him and that can be done and that he should follow the Hokage's decision.

His big brother figure then left for his mission and promised to treat him to some Ramen afterwards.

That was the last time he ever saw Iruka.

It was near night-time when he left the academy. He still remembered as he walked alone on the early evening streets at a loss for what to do with his life. In a span of hours his beloved tried to kill him, he failed to becoming part of genin team, and his dream of becoming a Hokage was taken away.

Yet despite all that he tried putting on the ever smiling mask and acting as cheerful as ever despite the feeling of absolute dread and despair that tore him apart from within.

To console himself over his recent loss he tried to go to Ichiraku so that he may eat and comfort himself with a bowl of his favorite Miso Ramen. What welcomed him however was the sight of the simple stand closed down with a sign saying out of business. He tried asking around what happened and was lucky enough to get some answers from a sneering civilian. Apparently the family decided to leave as they could no longer afford the business due to bad revenue and harassment from the other residents of Konoha for feeding and showing mercy to the Demon Brat.

Funny how that event was the one that made his resolve and cheerfulness waver. By then he finally realized just of how bad of a day he was having and wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep.

Too bad the news of the council's and the Hokage's decision to strip him from the ranks of Shinobi already spread like wild-fire that afternoon. Without being backed by the Hokage the civilians no longer had to hold back on their assaults and immediately went after him.

Before he could even enter the safety of his apartment he was beaten to a pulp by a mob of civilian and some retired shinobi who was more than happy to cause him pain since he was no longer under the Hokage or the Shinobi Council's protection and jurisdiction but rather he fell under the line of the Civilian Council who cared little about the repercussions of getting the blond beaten.

The beatings lasted a good hour or two until he was left alone, bruised, bleeding, and battered in a state of near unconsciousness within the streets of Konoha. To add insult to injury it just had to start raining as he was laying bruised and beaten on the ground while he stared at the face of all Four Hokage who looked as if they were pitying him.

He did not like being pitied. He could deal with all the abuse given to him but under no circumstance was he going to allow himself to get pitied on. He didn't really know what it was but he felt something snapped that very moment.

It was once said it takes only one day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy.

In his case he didn't turn into an omnicidal lunatic hell-bent on destroying Konoha. No it only took that day for him to say "screw it, I'm outta here", they wanted nothing to do with the demon of Konoha then so be it he was glad to leave them alone.

Konoha has taken everything away from him...

His childhood long gone...

His loved one betrayed him without a second thought...

His hopes of becoming a shinobi shattered...

His dreams to be Hokage gone...

He had nothing…

He wanted nothing more than to leave.

Really how could he stay there when the bonds he barely formed were ripped apart and crushed in front of his very eyes along with his hopes and dreams? He wanted to be acknowledge by the village but how was that even possible when he becoming Hokage was rendered impossible.

Having been forsaken and with nothing left he felt that it was best to just leave the land he called home and venture out into the wide world.

Before the sun even rose from the horizon the next day he was already long gone from the village.

After journeying outside the village borders and escaping pursuit from some suspiciously masked individuals he was lucky enough to end up in meeting his former master Momochi Zabuza who for some reason agreed in teaching him to be a shinobi after a rather fruitful encounter along with his partner and fellow apprentice at the time Momochi Haku.

Zabuza for the lack of a better term was a "fun" teacher. Fun in the way that he was constantly drilled in the ways of a shinobi giving him only six hours of sleep daily while most of the other times are spent in intense physical training along with even a more intense version of ninjutsu training with the use of his clones so he could catch up to the likes of Haku or those weird Demon Brothers.

Hell the scars that his body couldn't fully heal on his body could proof just how ''fun" it was to learn under the man. He still shudders every time he sees the large gash going from his left shoulder towards his right waist, it was a wound courtesy of the very same sword he now uses. The wound itself thought him to never get cocky and underestimate your opponent in a fight. That slash definitely put him back in place when he was getting way in over his head after finally beating Haku in a serious spar.

But still he enjoyed those times since he would always remember those fond memories as the time he finally found acknowledgement. Both Haku and Zabuza acknowledge his existence albeit the latter acting like a tsundere about it, which he obviously pointed out and was severely punished for, though in all honesty it was worth it.

After nine months of constant training or mercenary work under the swordsman's tutelage he was eventually entrusted by the man with several scrolls containing the Kinjutsu of Chiton from Kiri. The swordsman allowed him to learn the art since he was the only one with: an insanely high Suiton affinity, High Chakra Reserves, and Jinchuuriki Physiology, required to make the Jutsus work without them killing the user from either Chakra Exhaustion or rupturing their organs while using the simplest of jutsus in the scroll.

Safe to say that day marked his first step towards S-Rank.

Aside from Zabuza he also found solace in the companionship of his fellow apprentice Yuki Haku. The Hyoton user with a tragic past who viewed herself as a tool for Zabuza's dreams. He eventually managed to break the girl out of that mentality much to Zabuza's ire. Though later he would find out that his master was actually thankful towards him for doing that since he eventually thought of Haku as more of a daughter rather than a tool.

Another thing about Haku… well Haku was one of the reasons he was still kicking ass in the world of the living right now in more ways than one. She probably saved his ass more than a hundred times over the course of their lives together. She also imparted him with an ideology about true strength that he still follows to date. Yes, he owes much to her, much more than she could think.

With Haku and Zabuza their group went on adventures gathering up funds and making connections for the sake of one day returning to Kiri. Their group even managed to help get rid of several individuals who are deemed as tyrants in their lands. Funny really, since he and his sensei often joked that those were mock tests for their eventual battle with Yagura.

How wrong he was…

Yagura was a whole different ball game from the other tyrant wannabes as it actually took him, Haku, Zabuza, and the Leader of the Rebel Forces Terumi Mei to put that son of a bitch down. Even their victory came with a price as his sensei Zabuza lost his life dealing the killing blow to Yagura. Never was the blond happier in seeing someone get his head slice off then at that moment the grinning yet dying visage of his sensei swung his blade towards the surprised Yagura's neck.

Naruto stopped walking and closed his eyes for a moment as he remembered his sensei's last words. "Who would have thought… that seeing you two in danger… gave me the strength… to carry on… and kill… Yagura… I got soft… Gaki… meeting you… changed my life… for the better… I know you're not blind… we both know that war is going to get worse… you need to get stronger Gaki… So take my sword… use it... to protect Haku.. and if you ever make Haku cry I will kill you… Make her happy… gaki…"

"Naruto-kun?" A soft, kind, and gentle tone snapped him out of his thoughts. With a smile the blond mercenary turned towards the speaker, his long-time friend, co-apprentice, companion, partner, and lover. A few steps beside him wearing an elegant dark blue kimono that matched her rather pale complexion. Her Kimono was marred with the symbols of white lilies covering her rather lithe and slender frame while also making her modest breasts standout, her long raven black hair that went down to her back waving gently with each step she took. With her beautiful dark brown eyes she looked at him with eyes full of worry and concern.

Snapping out of his thoughts Naruto's blue eyes focused on the girl. "Haku-chan, do you need anything?"

"You were awfully quite Naruto-kun it wasn't like you."

"Hahaha and here I thought you'd prefer me shutting my mouth so I wouldn't get in trouble every now and then."

Haku shook her head, she's been doing that plenty of times that day for some reason. "We're here Naruto-kun" said the woman as she pointed at a rather well hidden cave. It was but one of the many secret hide outs that their group owned, just one of the many scattered around the Elemental Nations. The ice started walking towards the cave, while Naruto remained a few paces behind her his mismatched eyes still glued on her frame.

He and Haku were actually offered a position in Kiri by the new kage but they said no to it and instead with Haku in tow decided to live the life his master once have and became a mercenary during this time of war. It was during their stints as a mercenaries, did he and Haku meet the leader of their current group –a living legend, who personally invited them to join his group and even offered to teach the blond and the ravenette a thing or two about fighting and surviving in this time of great conflict.

Of course they accepted.

That was a good six years ago.

Naruto remained silent as he walked inside the barely lit cave, it's been a good few minutes since they started their trek, a few minutes of complete silence that without a doubt caught the attention of his long-time companion.

"You've been silent." Started Haku as she decided to break the ice between the two of them. "Do you have a lot on your mind Naruto-kun? If you want you can talk to me about it."

The blond sighed "I was just thinking about the past."

The Ice user tilted her head to the side as she placed a single finger on top of her lips "You've been doing that a lot lately or is it because of the date today?" she asked having an obvious knowledge of the blond's past.

"Yeah I was thinking of the time before I met you and sensei." Naruto replied, his tone having a hint of weariness.

"Your time in Konoha…" said Haku, her tone spine chillingly cold as she recalled the tales of abuse that Naruto suffered in their hands. She knew how much pain those memories caused the blond since in the past he would often scream in the middle of the night because of the perilous nightmares that often involved beatings and being called a demon. As far as she could remember there was only one way to remedy this thoughts.

With unparalleled speed the kunoichi made her way beside her partner and enveloped the blond in a warm and gentle hug. "No need to think of the past Naruto-kun… I hate it when you do that since you always look sad. I know those memories of your life in Konoha always hurt you in the end…"

He smiled as he enjoyed the feeling of her embrace. "Thank you Haku-chan… but I just can't help remembering, especially since today's the day I left Konoha."

She smiled as she broke the hug between the two of them. "How about you think of the times where you rescue princesses from foreign lands, and have them fall madly in love with you?"

"Sure only if we talk about how you pretended you were a guy for whole year we were travelling together. Oh and let's not forget how you constantly made me judge my sexual preferences."

"If it wasn't for you mistakenly entering that one hot spring then you would never found out that I'm a girl."

"I still remember Zabuza-sensei rushing into the scene after you screamed."

"He chased you with his sword that whole night."

The two chuckled at the fond memory.

"So do you want to talk about it?"

"No, I'm fine now."

"Naruto-kun if you ever need a lending ear… someone to help you get your but remember no matter what… I will always be here for you."

"I know Haku-chan…" He turned his head towards her before giving her a light kiss on the lips. "You've been here for me for the last ten years of my life… If having you means I have to leave Konoha then I would leave Konoha a hundred times out of a hundred just to be with you."

A tint of pink flashed the Yuki's face, as she returned the kiss."And if it meant being with you… Then I would personally go to Konoha even if it meant fighting the whole village to the death just so that we could meet… and fall in love once more."

The two continued their exchange of lips until the sound of someone clearing their throat suddenly echoed in the cave, catching the two's attention and effectively breaking their kiss there and then.

Turning their heads towards the direction of the sound the two found a pair of familiar individuals clad in black high collared robes that were adorned with red clouds, the infamous zombie combo of their group Kakuzu and Hidan.

"That was so fucking sweet I swore it gave me cavities. Get a room fuckers." The silver haired Hidan spat out in a mockingly disgusted manner.

A tick mark appeared on the blond's head. "And that's why you don't have a girlfriend fuck tard." He spat out rather fiercely since he never really got along with the foul mouthed Jashinist. Stupid asshole tried to sacrifice Haku in the past and since then has always been in his to kill list.

"Oi what the hell did you say?"

"I said that's why you're still a virgin."

"I'm going to kill you!" Hidan growled out.

Naruto glared at Hidan, he was never the one to back down from a challenge, if this guy wanted to scrap then he was extremely willing to hand down some ass wooping on his jashin ass. "Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try!"

Haku sighed as she thought about how the blond hasn't really changed that much since she met him long ago. Still as brash as ever. Purposely ignoring both Naruto and Hidan the Ice user turned towards the other person in the room. "Hello Boss…" she greeted.

Kakuzu merely grunted in response while he rubbed his temples in a desperate attempt to try stop himself from snapping and killing the annoying blond and his equally annoying partner. "Would you two shut up? Time is money and both of you are wasting my time! You two should know what I do for money." the oldest living shinobi shouted while releasing insane amounts of killing intent.

"Yeah, yeah I know you'd slit your own mother's throat for money." Naruto replied as he broke his gaze from Hidan who snorted victoriously. "Can you make a table for us Boss?"

The former shinobi of Taki nodded, he went through several hand seals before placing the palm of his hand on the floor of the cave. Not even a second later a rectangular slab of earth rose from the ground providing their group with a makeshift table. "There."

Naruto turned towards his partner. "Haku"

"Hai…" she whispered before taking out a scrolls from within her kimono and placing them on top of the table.

"As ordered we obtained the famous Hero Water of Taki…"

Kakuzu opened the scroll and channeled chakra into it, lo and behold the sacred treasure of Taki encased in a small gourd appeared after a small puff of smoke. From beneath his face mask Kakuzu smiled, despite being the youngest members of their group the two really has proven themselves to be extremely capable.

"Before you even ask we already sent the message to leader-sama. Fu is dead, the entirety of Taki was burning when we left, and Shibuki is dead as well."

"So you really went through with destroying my village. I really would have wanted to do it myself after what they did to me but alas I had other things to do." He looked at both Haku and Naruto with his unnatural green eyes. "Both of you did well but where is Shibuki's body? He has a hefty amount of bounty on his head." The man asked.

"At the bottom of the great lake. I didn't bother retrieving the body since it already sunk deep down." Naruto lied, he could have retrieved it if he wanted to but as that one guy from his class always said it was too troublesome.

"Hmm… fine but next time be sure to collect the body so we can get the bounty."

"Hai hai boss" Naruto replied in an off-handed manner before his nose picked up on the putrid smell that came from behind Kakuzu and Hidan. "God this place smells like… ugghh… damn it… Do I even want to know what you two were doing in here boss? It smells like rotten eggs and dead carcasses over here."

"What we were doing is none of concern." Said the greedy-nin as he carefully resealed the Hero Water in a separate scroll. "Much like it is not our concern what you and Haku-chan there always do every night during the past six years since you two joined our mercenary group."

"W-what the hell are you talking about?"

"Did you just stutter? Oi Are you blushing? Hahahaha the Red Fierce God Finally shows his true powers… by blushing!" Hidan barked out as he placed her hands on his hips while continuously laughing at the flustered S-Rank Shinobi. "Fucking Brat why the fuck are you blushing like that? Have you gotten soft on us? Do you want me to kill you and offer you up to Jashin-sama?"

"Do you want me to ask Haku-chan to freeze you again?"

"What! You wouldn't! You don't have the balls!"

"Oh I have the balls… big enough for the two of us… so I say… Dare Me."

"It's actually my call in the end" exclaimed a sweat dropping Haku not that the two heard it since they were both scowling as the two glared at each other for a good five minutes or so before Hidan finally decided to break the deadlock by huffing as he turned his head away from the blond and for once in his life decided to shut up. Not that he was afraid of Haku and the Yuki's Hyoton. Yeah no way in hell was he afraid of being frozen for all eternity.

"So what does Leader-sama want us to do this time?" asked Naruto as he crossed his hands around his chest while turning away from Hidan.

"You two are up to date with the ongoing of this war right?"

Haku nodded "Yes, currently there are three major fronts in this war. The front line of the war is in Ame… the forces of the Iwa, Kusa, Oto, are stationed around north while Suna, Konoha, Ame, are building up their forces around the south. The second front is along the border of Yugakure and Konohagakure where in majority of the forces from Kumo are stationed. From recent news it appears that the Hachibi Jinchuuriki finally breached the borders thanks to him spearheading the operation leading Kumo to occupy the area near the Valley of the End."

Finished Naruto as he gave both the boss and Haku a slight nod. "And the last front is at Kusa around the Tenchi Bridge. This front is where majority of Iwa and Konoha and Taki whose Konoha's allies are stationed. Truthfully I think Iwa is just trying to reclaim Kusa once more to use as a foothold for their invasion of Konoha but since Kusa is their ally this time thanks to Orochimaru so there is no need for that. However, there is also a smaller front currently building up between the borders of The Land of Earth and Wind as the skirmishes around that region are getting more intense."

"Blah who needs to think about stupid fronts… let's just go on ahead and keep killing people. I'm sure this will solve all our problems and save this world from war so I can finally spread the word of the almighty Jashin-sama across the nations."

The three ignored the lunactic while Kakuzu nodded, happy that the two were not behind in the ongoing of war unlike his rather stupid partner who was in the middle of one of his nonsensical religious ranting. "That is right but now the situation has changed drastically…"

"Because we destroyed Taki…"

"Konoha's alliance is further crippled."

"Technically that is right but since Taki's forces are rather negligible you two really didn't do much damage and with Ame's Yahiko and his group's support Konoha and Suna still stands a good chance winning this war."

"Let me guess, you want us to side with Iwa, boss?"

"Always been the smart one Haku."

A tick mark appeared on the blond's head "Oi are you calling me stupid?"

"When compared to Haku and myself, Yes. When compared to my partner, No."

"Yeah you stupid blond you're pretty stupid, stupid bwahahaha." The Jashinist laughed completely missing the insult intended for him. "I guess we know who wears the pants in your relationship hahaha-" the silver-haired man only stopped his laughter as he was suddenly assaulted by a cold chill around his arms. Looking down he found that both of his forearms were already frozen solid.

Haku smiled, a simple yet innocent looking smile that underlined an immense amount of killing intent and malice that had both Naruto and Kakuzu involuntarily taking a step away from the girl. "Hidan-san are you going to continue insulting Naruto-kun?"

"Fuck! Shit! Sorry I didn't mean to call the stupid blond stupid!" Hidan's eyes widened as the ice slowly spread and covered the entirety of his arms. "Fucking Cunt!" Naruto froze before gulping as the temperature in the area dropped.

Kakuzu palmed his face "You just had to say the C word. You know she hates the C word. When the hell are you ever going to learn?"

The Jashinist's eyes widened, small drops of cold sweat formed on his brow "I mean shit! Sorry! I didn't mean to call your boyfriend stupid or call you a Cunt you stupid Cunt!" he said in panic only to realize that he just added more fuel to the fire. "Fuck I mean-" this time he was not allowed to speak any longer as his whole body was encased in a huge bluish white crystal of ice.

Kakuzu shook his head, when was he ever going to learn not to piss of the Yuki. Hell everyone knew the Hidan was immortal but the Yuki could always as she demonstrated seal the Jashinist Immortal in a deep crystal of ice for a good eternity or two if she wanted. Dumbass. "So you two are heading towards Iwa to provide support. They already paid 35 Million Ryo as down payment. You'll be given the other 25 after your contract expires."

"How long does the contract last?"

"A Month"

"You two will most likely be stationed in the front at Kusagakure and if you are placed there then I want you two to find a certain item."

"And that is?"

"The Original Grasscutter sword, The Real Kusanagi not the replica that Orochimaru uses. The sword is apparently in the hands of the current Kusakage so it's best we take the sword from his hands preferably after killing him so we can cash his bounty as well. If that's not possible you two can also try and finding and sealing away the **Gokuraku no Hakō (Box of Ultimate Bliss)** since it can potentially cause further chaos. "

"Hmm the box I can understand but who's paying for the sword? Because if its Orochimaru-teme then screw it I won't even bother looking for it dattebayo. I don't want to have anything to do with that pedophilic Sannin unless it involves me slicing him in two with my sword."

"Don't worry I make sure we never do business with Oto, even though he offers a good amount of money our ethics differ in such a way that he will never find our group in his services. Oh and to answer your question Leader-sama said the request came from Kiri since they are in desperate need of replacements for the swords you and Kisame took."

"We'll get to that if we ever get to that front… but what if we're stationed at Ame?"

"Just try to kill one of these people…" The nuke-nin from Taki pulled out several pictures and tossed them over the table. Amidst all the pictures Kakuzu pointed to three of them specifically. "All of them have high bounties specially the three on the top."

Naruto let out a whistle, as he and almost every living shinobi knew who those three were. "Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato."

"The Saviours of Ame." Haku added.

"Damn those are some high-profile targets dattebayo. Boss you know I'm fine with fighting them and kicking their asses and all but didn't Leader-sama say not to touch these three?"

"Tch… forgot about that. Fine then you can target anyone else from the pile except those three but aside from them the highest bounty comes from killing this guy."

"Ao of the Raijin?" Naruto said as he recognized the man on the picture. Hell he even kicked the man's ass several times in the past during his travel with Haku and Zabuza, who knew that the guy was apparently a big shot.

The blond nodded as Haku started taking the photos from the table "Aside from that any other orders from Leader-sama boss? She asked.

"No that's it … just try not to kill your current allies… it's bad for business if you kill a high-ranking Iwa officer just because they ticked you off…"

"No promises… they make a pass on Haku and they're dead…"

The Hyoton user smiled "Naru-kun I'd hurt them before you have the chance."

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest "Just make sure to patch them up afterwards so I can kick their asses again." He gave one last glance at Kakuzu "So is that it?"

"That's all"

Naruto nodded ready to leave however Haku still had one question "Is it just the two of us for this mission?

"This time yes but sometime in the future back up may come."

Now that she asked about it, he hasn't seen the others in ages. "By the way boss, where are the others?"

"Itachi and Kisame are causing hell in Oto something about Itachi personally killing and skinning the snake alive. Deidara and Sasori are in Kumo helping out with the invasion of Konoha. The last two are in Kiri helping the place out to make sure they don't get involved in the war as of yet."

"What about leader-sama?" Haku asked curious at the current status of their ever mysterious leader.

"He's doing his own thing…"

"As secretive as always huh?"

"Yeah."

"So, boss when are we deploying?"

The older shinobi just smiled under his mask. One way or another the two of them were going to make a killing out of this. "Tomorrow until then do whatever you want but knowing you Gaki, you'd do her." He said barely having enough time to harden his skin to pelt of a barrage of ice senbon needles from a rather flustered and blushing Haku. "Just be sure to use protection brats. I don't really want to pay for you guys extra for maternity leaves and such. But if you do knock her up tell the leader first he'd be pissed if you didn't."

"Shut up…" Naruto turned around and started walking towards the exit, Haku just a few steps behind the blond. "Ah… almost forgot" she whispered as she made several quick hand seals dispelling the ice surrounding Hidan before exiting the room as well.

Hidan hugged his body while shivering "Fucking brats one day I'll be sure to sacrifice both of them to Jashin-sama"

Kakuzu snorted "If you're lucky you can probably take out the Hyoton user but since she knows how your ability works then it's unlikely than you can even get close to her before you turn into an icicle. As for the brat…If he was born in any other time then he would have been an excellent shinobi, but now that its time of war and the streets and fields are tainted with the bloods of both the innocent and guilty alike, where hundreds spill their blood on a daily basis, specially the battlefields... to have the ability to control all that blood in the midst of a battle field... it scares even me. He deserves it, his namesake A Red Fierce God Bathed in the blood of his enemies."

"Huh? What the hell do you mean? I just need one of my rituals to kill the guy just like always."

"Do you know why Leader-sama asked the gaki to join this group?"

"Should I care?"

"You should by the end of this year or the next one he will be probably be the strongest member of this group even stronger than Leader-sama. The moment I met that boy and saw his abilities, his absurd ability to learn and grow along with the knowledge of the Kinjutsu to control blood I just knew that he was going to be a decisive factor in this very bloody war. People did say blood is the essence of life and having power over that makes him the equivalent of death in any battle field. I remember the last man who had that ability the Shodaime Mizukage the First Jinchuuriki of the Rokubi truly a fearful man too bad he was betrayed and killed by his comrades before he could fully mastered his arts.."

"Che, I'll fucking show you. I'll kill the kid after this war is over."

"And I'll be there laughing when he destroys you."

"Hey! Shouldn't you be on my side since were partners?"

Kakuzu waved a bag of coins near his ear and nodded "No. I side where money tells me to side and right now it's telling me to side with the gaki."

"Che, I'll kill them any ways. Hey Kakuzu since the brats have left how about the two of us? Where the fuck are we going?"

"Weren't you listening earlier? I told you the Raikage paid extra so were going to Kumo to back up Deidara and Sasori."

"Hahaha more sacrifices for the one true god, Jashin-sama"

Kakuzu snorted "The being closest to God in this world is Money"

Hidan scowled "You're going to hell you blasphemer."

"I'm sure even hell runs in money so I'm safe there." He replied as two once again went into a rather long and pointless argument about Hidan's God and Kakuzu's Money.

**-Sanguine Lives-**

After leaving the cave Naruto and Haku went to one of the nearby towns near the borders of Taki and Iwa. As the two predicted there was wide-spread panic as news of the apparent destruction of Taki spread like wild-fire. From the lowliest of peasants to the richest people of the town, all talked about what was most likely the biggest news since the start of the war. The two could clearly see the panic in the air as fear arose for the inevitable rise of bandit and shinobi activity from other nations in the area.

This was their fault but it was a necessary evil. It was their only way to foil or damage his plans, one less hidden village to be controlled and toyed around within the grasp of his hands.

Ignoring the news that were already known to them the two to the nearest restaurant, a ramen restaurant where they ate a few bowls before departing for the inn where they planned to stay for the night. After a quick dip in the inn's naturally made onsen the two met back in their room. With the coming of the night the two followed through their almost habitual ritual.

Everyone had their own ways of coping with the stress and pressure of constant bloodshed and war fare. Sarori created and played with his puppets, Deidara molded sculptures, Hidan prayed to his God, Kakuzu counted money, Itachi ate pocky and terrorized the sweet shops, Kisame goes fishing, the other two would either go out eating or shopping, and then the leader well the leader trained his body.

This was theirs.

As they have done so for years the two kissed and hugged one another, slowly stripping of their clothes as they fell on top of the bed and descended into the throes of hot passion, the ultimate form of love and affection. They panted, grunted, and moaned in pleasure for hours desperately yearning for each other's heat as if to confirm their continued existence in this world.

This was their way of comforting one another for the monstrosities they have witness and enacted during this time of strife.

It was the only way the two could stay sane.

It was the only way they could stay strong.

Without the other they would have most likely died a long time ago.

Naruto hugged Haku tightly beneath the smooth bed sheets that hid their modesty, his strong and muscular arms enveloping her small and slightly shaking frame.

This was the only time the two allowed themselves to have a moment of weakness. He bit his lip as he heard soft sobs coming from his lover. He knew she hated what they had to do for a living. He knew she hated taking lives and it killed him to have to make her do that horrible deed, but in spite all that he knew that the two of them weren't allowed such a privilege of letting their enemies live. They had to kill for the sake of living, they had to kill for the sake of their goals, they had to kill for the sake of their dreams, and they had to kill for the sake of the future that awaits them beyond the bleak bloodstained horizon.

"There there Haku-chan… " he tried comforting her as he rubbed his hand down her in a soothing manner.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Yes Haku-chan?"

"Will the fighting ever stop?" she asked her tone soft and gentle with a hint of weariness and despair obtained within hundreds of battlefields in it.

Naruto closed his eyes as he hugged her tighter, bringing her body as close to his own as possible to the point that both could hear the other's heartbeat. "I hope so Haku-chan… for all of our sakes I hope so…"

The ice user smiled, she really wouldn't know where she would be right now if not for her fellow mercenary. They really have become a crutch to one another. "Goodnight Naruto-kun"

"Goodnight Haku-chan"

And thus the two slept and dreamed of a time of true peace, where all the violence and hatred were gone in the face of this world. Snuggling with each other the two enjoyed the small time of peace given to them by the heavens above.

The proverbial calm before the storm.

A small fleeting moment for the two, as tomorrow was the time for death and destruction.

Despite how they act, deep down inside the two wished for nothing more but to live in a peaceful world.

In the end however, peace was never an option for humanity.

War rages on.

**-Sanguine Times END-**

**Jutsu List**

**Chiton: (Blood Release) **(Suiton + Yoton (Yang Release): Often called the pinnacle of Suiton, Chiton is a famous Kinjutsu used by the first Kage of Kiri who was also the first Jinchuuriki of the Rokubi. Chiton grants the user the ability to generate excessive amounts of blood and manipulate, animate, solidify and otherwise control it, whether the blood is their own or from their surroundings. The drawbacks are as follows: Needs absurd amount of Chakra to use, Can only be fully utilized by a Jinchuuriki since this technique tends to damage one's own body as well, Cannot control blood inside of opponent's body like puppets the blood needs to be exposed through a wound before it can be controlled.

**Chigirigakure no Jutsu (Supplemental A-Rank)** - An improved version of Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hiding in the Mist Technique) as it muffles not only sight but also smell and to some extend even sound. This jutsu has a variant called **Sansei no Chigiri [Acidic Blood Mist] (Offensive A-Rank**) which turns the blood mist highly acidic and creates an effect similar to that of Mei Terumi's Boil Release. Naruto rarely uses this technique under normal circumstances since he too is burned if he stands within the mist w/o the Kyuubi's cloak or hardening his skin much like Kakuzu's Earth Spear through the use of Chiton.

**Bingo Book Corner**

Name: Shibuki

Epithet: Leader of Takigakure, Son of Taki, Shibuki of the Hero Water

Age: 25

Affiliation: Takigakure, Sodai Ha Teikei

Rank: A

Affinities: Suiton

Abilities: Kenjutsu (A), Taijutsu (A), Ninjutsu (S), Hero Water (SS)

Author's Notes: Tate no Moko (S) [Based on F/SN Saber's Excalibur], Suiton: Ko Suiatsu Taiho (A) [Based on a pokemon move called Hydro Pump only made sharper akin to the water attack Sasori used during his fight against Sakura and Chiyo]

Bloodline: None

Description: Has ink black eyes and long dark brown hair along with several battle scars on his face that makes him look haggard. He is often seen wearing a head band of Takigakure as well as a light blue flak jacket with metal shoulder guards.

Reported Feats:

Singlehandedly stopped an attempted rebellion by a former Jounin of Takigakure.

Defeated Darui, Samui, and Atsui during the first attack at the borders of Yugakure.

Killed over a hundred Kusa-nin during the attempted takeover of Takigakure.

Bounty:

Kumogakure: 24,450,000 Ryo Dead or Alive

Kusagakure: 30,000,000 Ryo Dead or Alive

**Details: **He shows a lot of promise and strength with his swordplay and proficiency in using Suiton. However what makes him a dangerous man is his ability to use the sacred Hero Water which increases his chakra tenfold and survive the aftermath of its side effects that is known to have killed many in the past. Overall, he should be engaged with caution.

**EN0: **The blood of a battle field will call out to Naruto… This fic will mostly deal with the dire consequence of the lack of Naruto's presence in Konoha along with the general effect of war not only to Naruto but to the majority of the inhabitants of the E. Nations. In addition it will also be good to point out that in this fic's AU a lot of stuff didn't happen.

Here are a few of the major changes in this Narutoverse.

**Sarutobi's Decision: **Naruto's fate was actually separated into two options after his failure to become part of a genin squad. The first was to live a life of a civilian where he will be kept in the village at all times to satisfy Homura and Koharu who wishes for the blond to be placed in the village under supervision. The second was to allow Naruto to be trained by Danzo so that the man may turn him into a weapon for the sake of Konoha. To Sarutobi the choice was obvious… as much as he wanted Naruto to become a shinobi he also could not put it upon himself to hand Naruto over to Danzo who would with no doubt turn the boy into an emotionless doll so he made the choice of making Naruto into a civilian. However what most didn't know was that Sarutobi actually planned on Naruto meeting Jiraiya sometime in the future so that the Sannin may take the boy away in hopes of having the man secretly train Naruto in becoming a full fledge shinobi who he shall personally pass when the times comes. Too bad Naruto was long gone before Jiraiya came back to the village…

**Konoha- **w/o Naruto no one was able to stop Gaara at the Invasion until it was too late. That said the enraged Bijuu fired of a few Bijuudama's that took out a good portion of Konoha's forces. Jiraiya eventually defeated Shukaku and Gaara but the damage to the nation has already been done and other nations viewed this as a perfect opportunity to strike which sparked the Fourth Great Shinobi War. Currently Konoha is led by Jiraiya the Toad Sage who was forced to take up the mantle of Hokage after the death of Sarutobi.

**The Ame trio are alive-** They are in an alliance with Konoha due to the event with Danzo and Hanzo ambushing their group not happening because of a fall out between the two shinobi which lead to an easier loss in the part of Hanzo who was defeated by Yahiko and Nagato. The alliance with Konoha stems from Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato's connection with Jiraiya.

**Akatsuki- **The group still exists and still contains a group of Missing-Nin who consider themselves as Mercenaries (Road to Ninja Counterpart). The group structure is basically still the same with the exception of Orochimaru and Tobi who were never members. This group is currently led by "Leader-sama" with Itachi as second in command while Kakuzu acts as a treasurer as well as the one who hands out missions (everyone calls him boss for some reason). Current members are as followed and paired: Kakuzu and Hidan, Naruto and Haku, Deidara and Sasori, Kisame and Itachi,? And ?, the Leader who mostly acts independent.

**Kirigakure- **The only land along with **Iron** to not get involved is this war as of yet. This nation is allied with a few minor countries such as Nami no Kuni and Haru no Kuni thanks to the connection of this land to Naruto and Zabuza who were responsible for freeing the lands from oppression. If one were to nit-pick Naruto's current alliance nation wise would most likely be Kiri as he is known in the lands as a Hero along with Haku, Zabuza, Choujiro, Ao, Utakata, and Mei for defeating the Tyrant Yagura. The current Mizukage is Terumi Mei with Utakata and Ao as her closest advisors.

**Madara and Obito: **Are both still alive and roaming around the E Nations. There is a good chance that the two are acting behind the scenes of this war but what are these two plotting?

**EN1: F. Haku: **I know she is a bit cliché but I had to write her in this story in order to follow the Zabuza's apprentice "what if route". In all honest I really do see her as a good match for Naruto. Do note that she will play a big part in this story and her and Naruto's interactions in the past will be featured in a short series of flash backs throughout the story. Oh and in this verse she was more of Zabuza's adoptive daughter despite her still thinking herself as a tool much to the Demon of the Mist's ire.

**EN2:** **The Fic/Abilities: **This was actually intended to be a prequel to one of my other fics truth betold I was actually typing this out for that fic and after looking at it I found that it could pass as a whole separate series which will span around ten to fifteen chapters at most. I'm also accepting ideas about Chiton as of now his skill set is rather short aside from the hardening skin, acid blood, blood mist, 2nd Gearish doping, standard crystallized blood attacks, deadman wonderland like manipulation I got nothing. Oh and I also had an idea about another non xover Naruto-fic which I may or may not type out but it involves a Bakuton Naruto.

**EN3: S-Rank: **Naruto was trained by two shinobis first was Zabuza the second one is this mysterious leader-sama. His actual skill as an S-Rank will be fully shown in his battles in the war specifically the first major battle the siege of… well that would be spoiling it right?

**EN4:** There was supposed to be a lemon in the last part but decided to take it out… I didn't want this to get taken down but I'll be sure to post it up later.

**Update Status: A Pledge to my King: 5572 words/ 15000, Infernal Dragon: 7137/20000**

**Please Review ^w^**


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